Virgin Media Will Restrict BitTorrent Traffic Next Year
UK Internet service provider Virgin Media is working on implementing new technology to specifically monitor and limit BitTorrent traffic in 2009, what Wired calls a reversal of its support for net neutrality.
Currently, the company’s policy is to reduce the speed of those users with the largest volume of traffic at peak evening times. According to Virgin Media's CEO Neil Berkett (whose words about net neutrality being "a load of bollocks" said it all at one time) the new practice will be operative starting the middle of 2009. Here’s a comment made by an official spokesman which, however, is rather vague:
"Broadband has become integral to delivering home entertainment services and with data consumption growing rapidly, we are exploring new ways to enhance our product offering. Part of this involves intelligent monitoring and understanding the way people use our broadband service."
A few months ago following the purchase of a deep packet inspection technology used to monitor applications Virgin Media said it "does not discriminate internet traffic by application and we have no plans to do so."
P2POn also kept his readers informed about Comcast’s controversial practice of throttling P2P file sharing traffic in U.S., which at first it didn’t admit to but eventually made public 3 months ago.
